


A Fight Without Heroes

by themidnightpost



Series: Long Live the (Mad) King [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright Spoilers, Gen, Leo is only mentioned however, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, Spoilers, adapted from an orphaned roleplay, it's all in my hands now bwahaha, it's the ship I have in mind for this overarching story so, there isn't room for leokumi in this piece but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-02 11:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13317006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themidnightpost/pseuds/themidnightpost
Summary: **ENDGAME SPOILERS FOR BIRTHRIGHT**In a single night, half of Nohr's royal family were wiped out in the name of peace. In a single night, Leo lost his siblings, his faith in their inadvertent murderer, and some may say even his sanity.After a single night, there was no longer any hope for peace.(Or, following Birthright sans Leo's forgiveness.)





	A Fight Without Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a very short drabble taken pretty much verbatim from the intro I wrote for the Mad King Leo AU that was all over my instagram last fall. There was going to be a roleplay involved with the cosplayer for King Leo but that fell through; which is just as well, because there was a lot of what he had in mind that I was not wholly on board with, and I have some other ideas of how I would like for this whole story to play out.  
> That said I plan to add to this series but not on any particular schedule, so apologies ahead of time for that! Hopefully you enjoy this tiny bit anyhow~

Of course this all would be Corrin's fault. He really should have never been surprised.

The more Takumi turned it over in his mind, he did also hold the opportunity to stop Xander's suicide quest, however futile it may have been. It had been growing increasingly obvious to him that Nohr's royal children had all inherited some form of their father's insanity, if this hellbent focus on dueling to the death was any indication. 

...no, not quite all of them. Their youngest sister--Elise, if Takumi remembered correctly--struck him as the only Nohrian royal who carried more than but a shred of desire to see this war resolved without the use of swords (or any other weapon, he mentally ammended). For the hour or so that he knew her, Takumi could not shake off the nagging feeling that he might as well have just met a second younger sister; while she was without question as outgoing as Sakura was shy, the two shared between them a boundless embrace of kindness and an optimism that with enough hard work, the world would be right again. He truly believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that with the two young women nearing the helm of their countries' leaderships, peace really could lift the world's burden of strife, anguish, and death. A true peace, devoid of empty promises and furtive glances thrown over each other's shoulders.

That was Takumi's first mistake. Anyone in this age who lays down their arms to call for peace does not live long enough to finish all the words their last breath was capable of holding.

And Corrin was all but the de facto commander of their little pocket of the Hoshidan army, leading the younger prince and the rest of this motley crew to follow their lost brother's every decision, offering only minimal questioning in return.

Well to hell with that now.

"Brother...what on earth are we going to do?" Takumi breathed out, not for the first nor for the last time.

Ryouma's eyes did not open nor meet any of his siblings' gazes, something for which none of the handful of people kneeling within the small room could fault him for. Silence reigned for several minutes more as they all remained waiting with their individual thoughts, Takumi's roiling in a vortex that belied his loose facial features. 

Why could Xander not have stood still long enough to listen to his supposedly beloved little brother? Why did Elise have to remain committed to her love for her country and siblings all the way through her untimely end?

And why did he and all his siblings have to fight and sacrifice endlessly, only to replace King Garon with a man--no, a boy--who promised to evolve into a tyrant even worse than his father before him?

"I wish I had a different answer for you, Takumi. For all of you. But as it stands, King Leo has left me no other choice." A subtle wave of tightened shoulders and lowered eyebrows rolling throughout the room was the only indication of how unnatural, how _wrong_ , the very appellation sounded in any context, much less within the inner chambers of Hoshido's Crown Prince.

King. The King of Hoshido. Nohr was not the only country to rush through an emergency coronation.

"This is all my fault. I should have stopped Xander." Corrin ground out from his place directly opposite Ryouma, his head bowed both in shame and to hide just how many tears threatened to pour out of him just by speaking his late brother's name.

"What is done is done, brother. At this point in time, we all must focus on fortifying our defenses, placing our villages and cities under military protection, rationing our dwindling resources, and facing Nohr's new leader with our dignity as Hoshidans. Apologies will come later. Besides which...they should not be directed towards me."

Corrin flinched visibly, his head lowering even further as his fists clenched impossibly tightly upon his thighs. Ryouma's eyes softened a degree however, the warmth in his voice making itself more apparent as he spoke, "Corrin, you are our brother, you always have been and you always will be. Nothing will ever change this, or our love for you."

"He's right." Hinoka turned to face him, a serenity flowing across her face that Takumi had never seen in his life before Corrin returned home, "We were with you back then, and we still are with you now. We're going to win this, together!"

"Y-yes. We will!" Sakura contributed, her eyes shining in a muted fear mixed with the optimism she and Elise had once shared. Each of the royal siblings' retainers lined against the walls nodded and murmured their affirmations, a confidence growing among them that this conflict would be won over with minimal difficulty or casualties. Takumi wished, rather than hoped, that this would be the case. 

He released a sigh in response, resigning himself to this new chapter in the long and increasingly fucked up tale he called his life.

"Yeah. Let's get those Nohrians."


End file.
